As Loyola advanced to the Final Four last season, stunning college basketball with its bracket-busting upsets, Canadian reporters called and visited Akon Ajou’s home in Edmonton.

“Everyone was so excited,” she said.

Never mind that her son Aher Uguak was on the Ramblers bench during the run. He never played all season, sitting out because of NCAA rules after transferring from New Mexico.

Back home, Uguak’s link to March Madness was enough to make him local news. In Rogers Park, his potential as an athletic difference-maker for a team that lost three of its top six scorers is an intriguing story entering Tuesday’s season opener against Missouri-Kansas City.

“He hasn’t really played in two years,” coach Porter Moser said. “He didn’t really play as a freshman. … He’s a person we’ve got confidence in. Every game he’s going to be more and more comfortable getting those minutes.”

Uguak, a 6-foot-7 forward, averaged 1.2 points and 0.7 rebounds in limited minutes during 19 games for New Mexico as a freshman. When coach Craig Neal was fired in April 2017, Lobos associate coach Chris Harriman called Moser to tell him about Uguak’s search for a new program. Harriman and Moser previously coached together on the Saint Louis staff.

Uguak was unfamiliar with the school.

“I knew nothing at all about Loyola,” he said. “I just knew it was in Chicago. I was completely sold with what they were trying to do and their recruiting. It made me want to come here.”

Uguak did know a little something about Chicago. His cousin Luol Deng played for the Bulls from 2004 to ’14.

Age and geographic distances prevented them from having a close relationship, but Uguak closely followed Deng’s career. That doesn’t mean he always rooted for him.

“He was always playing against my favorite player, LeBron James,” Uguak said. “As a kid, I was always rooting for LeBron.”

But Deng was a model for Uguak — in basketball and philanthropy.

As a 5-year-old in 1990, Deng fled to Egypt from his native South Sudan during a brutal, decades-long civil war, and he later was granted political asylum with his family in Britain. After the Bulls drafted him out of Duke in 2004, he began fundraising for education opportunities and sports activities for refugees and children in African nations, eventually creating his own foundation.

Before Deng’s family left South Sudan, Ajou would babysit her brother’s son.

“I looked up to him a lot,” Uguak said. “He inspired a whole nation in South Sudan and Great Britain. He does so much off the court. It’s something I would like to do also. He’s helping communities build and become stronger.”

Uguak’s family also fled South Sudan for Egypt, where Aher was born in 1998. Ajou said her husband Simon Uguak’s job in parliament made them worry about their safety. The family moved to Canada when Uguak was 8 months old.

“The war was getting worse and worse,” she said. “We came to Canada. Did what we were supposed to do, worked, went to school. It’s our second home.”

While his brothers took to football — his younger brother Lwal Uguak is a 6-foot-5, 270-pound freshman defensive lineman at Connecticut — Aher dropped the sport at age 7 for hoops.

Knowing his cousin had made it as an NBA star and receiving growing recognition for his own skills, Uguak was driven to earn a college scholarship.

“Once I started getting opportunities and doing good in AAU and getting offers from Division I programs, I was thinking: ‘Why not me? Why can’t I do this?’ ” Uguak said.

Loyola’s magical run to the Final Four included plenty of memorable moments. Here’s a look back at the best of the best.

(Shannon Ryan)

He was rated as one of the top recruits in western Canada before choosing New Mexico. After relocating to Loyola, he used his sit-out year to improve.

“Throughout my redshirt year, I just focused on learning the game and shooting and being consistent and dominant,” he said. “I feel like I can impact the game right away and play many different roles. I’m a versatile player. I think I can help the team win in many ways: scoring, defense, rebounding.”

The Ramblers lost Donte Ingram, Ben Richardson and Aundre Jackson from the Final Four squad but return plenty of talent in guards Clayton Custer, Marques Townes and Lucas Williamson and center Cameron Krutwig. Like Uguak, Custer (Iowa State) and Townes (Fairleigh Dickinson) sat out a season after transferring.

Uguak fits the mold of other players Moser has recruited in his versatility and ability to be a mismatch for defenses. His athleticism is a feature the Ramblers haven’t had much of in the past.

“Defensively he can guard (positions) one through five, which is huge,” Custer said. “He’s an athlete that we really haven’t had since I’ve been here. I’m really excited.”

Uguak started in Loyola’s exhibition against Winona State, shooting only 1 of 5 but grabbing eight rebounds. Developing new players and reserves — such as sophomore forward Christian Negronfrom Larkin, freshman guard Cooper Kaifes and freshman forward Franklin Agunanne — will be vital to the Ramblers’ precision-based offense.

“It’s a big thing,” Moser said. “Really good teams are eight, nine deep, and that’s what we’re looking to be.”

Uguak said watching from the bench as the Ramblers moved through the NCAA tournament was inspiring.

“You watch and take in how other players play,” he said. “I was so happy for them, not jealous.”